Old merits and top performances – a combination that does not go together in the new era. As cruel as it is, it is true. And that is what Cristiano Ronaldo – one of the best goalscorers of all time – feels on his own skin in recent months.After witnessing Jorge Mendes unsuccessfully offering him to clubs all over Europe (meaning those with a suitable reputation and incidentally playing in the Champions League), it seems that they are slowly turning their backs on him in his homeland as well. Specifically, in the Portuguese national team.🇵🇹 Cristiano Ronaldo has come on as a sub 6x this season and blanked in all 6. 🇦🇷 Lionel Messi comes on as a sub ONCE and scores a brace 🐐 pic.twitter.com/ZvUUsvMxqG— Exclusive Messi ➐ (@ExclusiveMessi) September 28, 2022 The defeat against Spain and the loss of first place in their Nations League group clearly hurt the Portuguese so much that some media outlets started to raise a topic for a survey – does Cristiano still have a place in the starting line-up under Fernando Santos?Such is the modern age sport. On one side, the crown of the European champion and almost 120 goals for the national team – no one has ever scored so much for a top national team – on the other, an inexorable tribute to age and form.As long as people who are paid to criticize – known and unknown, knowledgeable and ignorant – there is room for discussion. But when the fans start to turn their backs… Then it’s really time to think.Especially when all this happens in a football-loving nation, with such a pronounced emotional charge.What essentially fueled the whole story was a survey of Portuguese A Bola before the match with Spain, according to which as many as 57 percent of fans answered the question of whether Ronaldo should be in the starting line-up at the World Cup with – NO!”Less Ronaldo, more Portugal”, read the headline on the front page of this newspaper, with a call to Santos to promote Bruno Fernandes as the new team leader.Antonio Cassano followed up on all that, advising the superstar to give up on playing football.”I have a lot of respect for Ronaldo, although I don’t like him as a player. I prefer Messi. He is like Maradona, like Pele. He had to leave Argentina at the age of 14, he faced serious physical deficiencies. When we talk about sacrifices, we talk about Messi. The first four years he was alone in Barcelona. Isn’t that enough of a sacrifice?”##NAJAVA_MECA_6677573##The former striker of Real Madrid, Roma, Milan and Inter didn’t stop there…”Right now, Cristiano needs to do himself a favor, to understand that if you don’t reach a certain level, you should close the store. He won everything, he was a phenomenon. Now is the time to say – the end,” concluded the Italian, who put his football shoes on a peg in 2017.
